The Flash (Wally West)
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive. But no one remembers that, once upon a time, I was the Flash, too." Wally West '''is a speedster, the original superhero known as '''Kid Flash and the third character known as The Flash. His mentor was the second Flash, Barry Allen, who took him on as a sidekick after accidentally duplicating an experiment that had given him powers. Iris West, his aunt, is married to Barry. As a member of the Team[[Team Flash| Flash]] he has also worked with the other Flashes, Jay Garrick and Bart Allen. Wally's wife is Linda Park, who he has dubbed his "lightning rod"; their love enabling Wally to be the first person to ever enter the Speed Force and return. Wally has two children with her, twins [[Jai West|'Jai']] and [[Impulse|'Iris']]. Wally first became the Flash after the [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|'Crisis on Infinite Earths']], but he has been working alongside the other three since the events of [[The Flash: Rebirth|'The Flash: Rebirth']]. He is a founding member of the Teen Titans and a member of the Justice League. Biography Early Life Wally West was born to [[Rudolph West|'Rudolph']] and [[Mary West|'Mary West']] in [[Blue Valley|'Blue Valley']], [[Nebraska|'Nebraska']]. As a boy, Wally would often daydream, most notably about being the [[The Flash|'Flash']]. He idolized the Flash and was the president and sole member of the Blue Valley Flash Fan Club. His parents thought he was setting himself up for failure and did their best to dampen what they believed to be unrealistic expectations, in rather harsh ways. His father encouraged him to work at the same plant he did, but Wally grew frustrated and hurt (and eventually apathetic) by their lack of faith in his abilities. At a family reunion, hosted by the Wests, Wally accidentally spilled some soda, inciting his father to yell at him for being so careless. Wally quickly went to his room in tears. Once there, a familiar looking man, who he thought to be his uncle, came in and began to speak to him. The man encouraged Wally not to give up on his dreams, giving him confidence that he would reflect back on for years to come. Originally, Wally existed in the rebooted timeline after the events of Flashpoint. At one point, he was erased from existence by Abra Kadabra and completely forgotten by everyone. After this, Wally became trapped inside the Speed Force. He was finally able to break out after the death of Darkseid. Kid Flash One summer, when he was ten years old, Wally went to [[Central City|'Central City']] to stay with his Aunt Iris, whom he called his best friend. Iris was going out with police scientist Barry Allen, who was "friends" with the Flash. Barry "introduced" Wally to his idol, the Flash. In the back room of Barry's apartment was a lab, where Wally asked the Flash all sorts of questions. When he asked Flash how he got his powers, it turned out the speedster had set up his chemical cabinet just as it had been when he was created. Wally wished that something like that could happen to him; the Flash dismissed it as a billion-to-one chance. However, it just so happened that the weather that particular day was stormy and, at that moment, lightning did strike the cabinet, bathing Wally in the same chemicals that created the Flash. Flash told Wally to keep this a secret, even from Iris. He gave Wally a Flash costume specially tailored to fit him, and Wally became Kid Flash. The Flash taught Wally everything he knew about how to use speed to his advantage, and about the rogues gallery. The next day, after conquering a crippling fear of fire, Wally apprehended his first criminal, [[Mister Element|'Mister Element']]. Element had attacked the Art Museum, transmuting many pieces of art into shapeless forms. Element stole the [[Giardi Atom|'Giardi Atom']], an atomic model crafted from gold and jewels. Kid Flash followed Element to the home of [[Ward Wellington Weaver|'Ward Wellington Weaver']], owner of another Giardi Atom, where he defeated the villain and turned him into the police. While in high school, Wally was a member of the [[Eta Pi|'Eta Pi']] fraternity, along with his good friend, [[Tommy Elkin|'Tommy Elkin']]. The next summer, Barry told Wally his secret identity, which surprised Wally, who had always thought Barry was kind of boring. Again, lightning struck, causing a matter-transforming machine to transform Wally's costume into a newer, predominantly yellow costume, the design of which Barry had been toying with in the back of his mind. Wally also joined the [[Teen Titans|'Teen Titans']]. He began to take classes at [[Taggert University|'Taggert University']], with hopes of eventually getting a doctorate in physics. As Barry's sidekick, Wally met [[Green Lantern|'Hal Jordan']], then Green Lantern of Earth, and became Jordan's friend, just as Jordan had been Barry's friend. Because Wally had been struck by lightning and affected by the charged chemicals when he was a kid, rather than a full grown man, it affected his body differently than it had Barry's. Although he was able to run through the crippling pain he called "hitting the wall" the summer after he got his powers when adolescence hit, it came back with a vengeance, effectively propelling Wally to quit his super-heroic career.